Rat Man’s head jerked toward the sound, the gun wavering.“Fuck,” he whispered, then louder, “Fuck!”
He spun away from me, shouting to his men.“They’re coming!Get in position!Remember the plan!”He turned, intending to address the two other men, but we were alone in the warehouse.“FUCK!”His roar was nearly drowned out by the roar of bikes pulling up to the door of the warehouse.
“They’re going to kill you,” I promised Rat Man, blood dripping from my chin onto the concrete by my face as I smiled up at him.“And I’m going to watch.”
Panic flashed across his face, quickly masked by bravado.“Shut up,” he snapped.He hurried to set me upright.Despite my slight weight, this guy struggled to lift me.Granted, I was dead weight since my legs were still tied to the chair.
The motorcycle engines grew louder, then suddenly cut off.The silence that followed was more menacing than any threat.Jag and Knight were here, just outside.
Rat Man backed away from me, moving toward the center of the warehouse floor, gun still trained in my direction.
Through the broken windows, sunlight caught on chrome and leather as figures moved into position outside.The cavalry had arrived.My lips curved into a bloody smile as I prepared myself for what came next.
“Time’s up, Rat Man,” I said softly, the words meant as much for myself as for him.No matter what, I had no intention of being a passive victim.I would fight.For Jag.For myself.For the future I refused to let this man steal from us.
Chapter Thirteen
Jag
The warehouse door groaned as we pushed it open.I moved first, every muscle in my body coiled tight with rage as Knight, Cain and I moved inside the door with purpose.The others were behind us, but I only cared about Ada.My eyes adjusted quickly to the dimness.Then I saw her.Ada sat tied to a metal chair in the center of the room, her face bruised, lip split and bleeding.Something primal roared inside my chest.
Rat Man stood beside her, a gun pointed vaguely at Ada, but he seemed to swing the gun in whatever direction he looked.His face twisted into a smirk when he spotted us approaching.I could see the wild panic behind his eyes.I glanced in Ada’s direction and my gaze locked on her.I needed to look away, to watch Rat Man or at the very least scan the area for any more minions Rat Man had working for him other than the two we caught as they tried to leave the warehouse, but my focus now was Ada.She met my gaze and held it.Despite her split lip and the angry bruise blooming on her cheekbone, her gaze burned with defiance.My girl.My fucking warrior.
“Well, well,” Rat Man started, his voice high and tight.“If it isn’t --”
The gunshot cracked through the warehouse like thunder.Rat Man jerked backward, a look of profound surprise crossing his face as a dark stain bloomed across his chest.He stumbled once, twice, then crumpled to the floor in an ungraceful heap.
I glanced left.Cain moved past Rat Man, not looking at him as he did.He holstered his gun and took out a pair of trauma shears, knelt beside Ada, and started working to carefully cut the zip ties at her ankles.His expression hadn’t changed a bit.He might have been checking the time for all the emotion he showed.
Everything happened so fast it took me a second to process.Cain might be older than me, but he didn’t seem like the kind of guy I wanted to make my enemy.Knight managed to be a step ahead of me as we both hurried to Ada as well.
“I’m fine, Knight.”Ada tried to reassure her brother, even managing to frown in disapproval.She thought she got to boss Knight around.Cute.“Go do whatever the shit you guys do and give me a minute, yeah?”Uh-oh… Ada’s snippy voice never boded well for the receiving party.
“Right.”Knight still knelt beside her, meeting her gaze directly.Whatever he saw in her eyes satisfied him because Knight stood, glanced at me and then back to Ada.Take care of her.Message received loud and clear.“Tiny’s coming in from the back.”He paused before glancing over at Cain.“Don’t shoot him.”
I rushed to Ada.Her wrists were raw and bloody where the zip ties had cut into her skin.Her ankles were still bound to the chair legs, but Cain worked carefully to free her.Rage burned hotter in my gut at the sight, but I pushed it down.She needed me steady now.
“You okay?”I asked, kneeling in front of her.The words felt stupid and inadequate.Of course she wasn’t okay.
Ada’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at me, her lip trembling.“You’re late,” she managed to say, forcing a smile through her tears.
“Traffic was hell,” I replied, my voice rough with emotion as I stroked her face.The plastic at her ankle gave way with asnap, and Cain immediately moved to the other side while I checked her over.Her hands were bloody and freezing when I took them in mine.
She trembled as she looked up at me, wincing.“Circulation’s coming back.I didn’t notice before, but my fingers hurt like a motherfucker.”Her voice trembled almost as violently as her hands did.
Knight returned from his sweep of the building.“Clear,” he announced.Tiny followed behind him but at a distance.With his hands out to his sides.“Must have only had the two bozos with him.”
Cain stood over Rat Man’s body, nudging it with the toe of his boot.The old man looked down at the corpse with an expression of disgust.“Who the fuck takes the name Rat Man?”he asked no one in particular.
Gunnar, who’d slipped in when I wasn’t looking, snorted despite the tension hanging in the air.“Good Goddamned question,” he replied, glancing at his father with a mixture of exasperation and respect.“The two guys out there are hired thugs.Said he paid them a couple grand each to meet him here and beat up a couple bikers.Said they didn’t have anything else to do and liked to fight.”He shrugged.
“It was only Rat Man who grabbed me,” Ada offered.“I mean, those two didn’t do anything to help me, but they didn’t hurt me either.”
“Either way,” Gunnar said.“They’ll be having themselves an accident.Nothing lethal, but enough to let them know this is our territory and we protect our own.”
I turned back to Ada, gently cupping her face in my hands.“Are you hurt anywhere else, baby?”
“Pain’s waitin’ at the clubhouse,” Knight offered.“He can check her over good.We should go if there’s nothing she needs taken care of immediately.”
